Alchemists' Taboo
by Meda Princess
Summary: Family dead and and an automail arm from a failed attempt, she traveled to Central to become a State Alchemist. Little did she know, the first person she would meet would both shatter her only hope and give her a new reason to live. EdwardXOC. One shot.


**Alchemists' Taboo (FMA: Edward One-Shot)**

I wrote this rather long one shot a while back for a friend. It's posted on Quizilla an I figured I might as well post it here too.

Disclaimer: "Emilee Hitachiin" belongs to my friend, not me, but I did make a few changes to the character for purposes of this story. And FMA belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

* * *

**Emilee Hitachiin**

**Age:** 15

**Looks:** long black hair and blood red eyes, wears a long sleeved black dress with a belt at the waist and lace on the bottom hem, black 1 inch block heeled boots, and black gloves.

**About:** When she was 12, her parents were killed by someone at work, and trying to resurrect them with alchemy she lost her arm. (a/n: yeah, I know, sounds like Ed, but _she_ came up with this character for another story, I just made a few changes to fit this story) Her brother died later in a car crash. Her specialty in alchemy is "shadow manipulation" (a/n: and I don't want to hear "that's impossible!" this is just a story, people!)

**Personality:** "just a demon at heart" (quote by her) but can be nice if she WANTS. Prone to blow up in peoples' face like Ed; you just have to push the right buttons.

Lastly, I do not want to hear one word about "Mary-Sue"s. If you have a complaint about this OC, please contact edwardsgirl16. Thank you. Have a nice day.

* * *

This story is based off the manga.

* * *

I stepped off the train onto the platform and looked around. New girl in Central. Bigger and busier than I thought it would be. After my parents died, I was living with my brother, where I tried to bring our parents back to life. The transmutation fail and I lost my arm as the "toll". My brother managed to hook me up with an auto-mail mechanic and I got my arm replaced. Shortly afterward, my brother died in a car crash on the way to Central. I was sent back to my home town and to an orphanage where I managed to convince them I had relatives in Central who would take me in and were actually expecting me and my brother. That of course was a lie, I had nowhere to go, but my parents had left behind enough money that I should be okay on my own for awhile. Maybe I would take the State Alchemists' Exam.

"Damnit! I come back to Central and this is what I get for it!" a boy's voice, shrill with fear, echoed down the street as I was looking for place to stay.

Seeing the flash of alchemic light out of the corner of my eye, I turned and saw a boy about my age with long, braided golden hair, wearing a red alchemist's cloak. He was transmuting a wall to block off an alleyway.

"Brother, you know that won't hold him for long," the taller one wearing armor said.

"I know, Al," the short blond replied quickly, clapping his hands and transmuting another wall in front of the first. "Let's see…if I make each wall of a slightly different substance…" he muttered to himself as he transmuted more walls, "that should make it harder to—"

Suddenly there was a flash of red alchemic light and the walls blew up. The boy was blown over in an involuntary summersault.

"Brother!" the armored one exclaimed.

"Or not! Come on, Al!" the blond yelled, jumping to his feet and running.

A man with dark skin, fair hair, and sunglasses had appeared among the rubble. "Fullmetal, you will not escape the wrath of god this time!" the man shouted, running after the two boys. "I will send you to meet your maker!"

"Yeah, and I thought I told you, god doesn't like me very well!" the blond shouted back. "Even if you sent me to him, he'd probably just send me back!"

I didn't full comprehend what was going on, but the two boys definitely needed help. Stepping into the shadow of a building, I clapped, touch the shadow, and disappeared into it. As the boys ran past me, I grabbed the blond by the hood of his cloak and the armored one by the streamer of hair on the helmet, pulled them into the shadow with me, then clapped and touched the shadow again. Both boys were in shock. The man ran right past us and disappeared down another side alley. I smirked and turned to the boys. The blond's mouth was agape.

"Who are you and how did you do that?" he demanded.

"Brother!" the armored one exclaimed, in what could have been shock. "I'm sorry. He can be such a hothead," he apologized to me. "I'm Alphonse and this is my older brother Edward."

Edward grunted.

"Older?" I asked slightly confused.

"One freakin' word about my height—!" Edward started to yelled but Alphonse stopped him.

"Brother! Please! I'm sorry, today hasn't been a very good day," Alphonse apologized again.

"I kinda noticed," I said, looking back at the rubble of the transmuted walls as I walked out of the shadow. "So who was that religious, psychopath murderer?"

"He's called Scar, and he's after me because I'm a State Alchemist," Edward said sourly.

Well, that made me rethink wanting to become a State Alchemist.

"He claims he hates everything about alchemy and State Alchemists who only use it for themselves, but his right arm actually uses alchemy, stopping it at the second stage of destruction," Edward continued sourly, walking out of the shadow as well. Now, all three of us were visible again. "Now tell me how the heck you did that!"

I smirked again. "It's my specialty: shadow manipulation." I watched and was pleased with the shocked looks I received from the boys.

"That's actually possible?" they shrieked at the same time.

I simply nodded.

Edward had his hand pressed to his forehead, mumbling to himself, and Alphonse just looked kinda dazed. All in all, it was satisfying response. I just loved watching how people reacted when I told them I could manipulate shadows with alchemy.

"So, care to tell me where I can take the State Alchemists' Exam?" I asked.

Edward and Alphonse exchanged looks.

"Why do you want to become a State Alchemist?" Alphonse asked.

"Especially with what we just told you about Scar," Edward added.

"…I want to research some stuff," I said, avoiding the real reason. It's not like I could ever tell anyone.

Edward and Alphonse exchanged looks again.

"Well, we could take her to the Colonel…" Alphonse suggested to his brother.

"Al, I don't wanna go back there…!" Edward moaned. "I've had enough verbal abuse from him for one day."

I had to admit, this caught my interests, but I didn't ask.

Alphonse sighed. "I'd take her and leave you to find a room, but with Scar on the loose…"

"Yeah…" Edward sighed.

"And shouldn't we tell him?"

"No! I don't want anymore bodyguards!"

"But, brother—!"

"No means no, Al!"

"Excuse me," I interjected, getting annoyed. "State Alchemists' Exam?"

"Oh, right!" the brother's said simultaneously, and motioned for me to follow them. All the way to the military's central headquarters, Edward was muttering darkly to himself. I found out why when we got there.

"Come in!" a lazy voice barked from inside the office whose door Alphonse had knocked on. The door opened to reveal a rather good looking black haired man sitting behind a desk stacked high with paperwork. "Oh, Alphonse," he said, looking up from the piles. "Where's your brother?"

"Down here, you lazy bastard!" Edward snapped.

"Oh," the man said, standing up and looking over the piles of papers at Edward. "Sorry, couldn't see you over the papers."

"Yeah, yeah, cuz I'm so small. Cut the short jokes, Mustang," Edward said with what could have been considered malice.

"Actually, no pun intended; I seriously couldn't see you," Mustang replied. "And who's this?" he asked in brighter tone as he noticed me. "Couldn't see her either," he added more to himself, walking around the desk to stand in front of me. I could tell just by the look on his face what he was thinking.

"She wants to take the State Alchemists' Exam," Alphonse explained.

Roy raised his eyebrows. "Really now? She looks about the same age as you two. Of course Fullmetal here took it when he was only twelve…"

That was when the pieces clicked into place. "Edward…" I said looking at him, "as in Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, the youngest State Alchemist…?"

"Yeah, that's me," he said in "so-what?" tone.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at my twisted luck. My first day in Central, and I had already met the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist. The powers-that-be must really have something against people who break the taboo.

"Well, I suppose I could make the necessary arrangements… By the way, I'm Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist." He flashed a smile at me.

Okay, I hadn't really wanted to know.

"What's your area of expertise in alchemy?" Roy asked.

I opened my mouth but the brothers jumped in before I could get anything out.

"It was so cool! She uses shadows!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"That's impossible," Roy said strait out.

I growled softly at the both of them. _Don't make me sic a shadow snake on you, _I thought. _She'll be on you faster than you can say 'flame'._

"I know it seems that way, but Al and I experienced it firsthand," Edward added.

"Well, alright," Roy said, still sounding skeptical. "Come back tomorrow around 1:00." The three of us turned to leave when Roy spoke again. "Oh, and Fullmetal, I heard Scar's back in Central."

Edward went ridged in the doorway.

"I don't suppose you've had a run-in with him yet?" Roy asked.

"…No, we haven't," Edward said after a hesitation.

"Very well, I'll still look into bodyguards for you two," Roy said.

"Damnit!" I heard Edward curse softly as we walked down the hall.

"Um… oh, wait, we still don't know your name," Alphonse said as we walked out of Military Command.

"It's Emilee; Emilee Hitachiin," I replied.

"Well, Emilee, do you have a place to stay?" Alphonse asked.

"No, I just got here today."

"Well, you can stay with us, right brother?" Alphonse asked with a hopeful glance at Edward.

Edward just shrugged. He was muttering to himself again. I managed to pick out a few words like "stone," "energy," and "gate," but nothing I could turn into a sentence. I was beginning to think Edward spent most of his time in his own little world.

* * *

~Ed's P.O.V~

Once again, I was going over the facts, figuring out how I could pull Alphonse's body back through the gate. "Human transmutation is possible, on the living – the dead can't be brought back to life. So we can open the gate and get to Al's body, using the Philosopher's Stone as the toll." I paused, remembering all the souls trapped inside Envy. "They have no bodies to go back to," I reminded myself. "They're just masses of energy waiting to be used up by the stone. And once inside, we can pull Al's body out and probably my arm and leg too… But that doesn't mean the soul will automatically return to the body, or that my limbs will be reattached…" I trialed off and growled softly in frustration. Even if I could rationalize the human lives inside the Stone, I didn't know how Alphonse's soul or body would react, or how my body would react.

"Brother, what are you mumbling about?" Alphonse asked, bring me out of my reverie.

"Huh, oh nothing, Al," I replied. I didn't need to worry him about this just yet. I still needed to work out the details.

* * *

~Em's P.O.V~

The walk was in total silence except for Edward's muttering, and I was getting bored out of my skull.

"So, Emilee, what all do you want to research?" Alphonse asked, turning to me.

"Just some stuff I probably wouldn't be able to otherwise," I replied.

"Oh. Um, why did you decide to come to Central, besides to take the exam?"

I chewed on my lip. "Well, my brother kept saying he'd take me one day, and I got tired of waiting around so I just came myself." It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

"What about your parents?" Alphonse asked.

"They're dead."

Edward's head perked and he turned slightly to look at me with what appeared to be sympathy.

"Our mom's dead too," Alphonse said sadly.

"Al!" Edward snapped.

Alphonse was silent after that.

_So there's something he doesn't want me to know,_ I thought, watching the back of his head.

When we reached the military hotel, Edward actually turned around and looked at me.

"Why are you still here?" he asked sourly.

I just crossed my arms and stared at him.

"Brother, I asked you if she could stay with us, but all you did was shrug," Alphonse said innocently.

Edward glared at me for minute, then turned around and walked into the building muttering, "Fine."

"Hey, I was just following Alphonse," I said in my defense.

Edward just shrugged. That was getting really annoying.

"Two rooms; one of 'em for two," Edward told the man at the front desk of the hotel.

"Name, please?" the man asked.

"Edward Elric."

The man wrote something down on a sheet of paper and handed Edward a couple of keys. "Here!" Edward called, tossing one of them to me.

I checked the room number on the tag: 304.

"Don't worry, I'm paying for everything," Edward said.

"Uh, thanks, but it's not like I can't pay for my own stuff," I replied.

Again, Edward just shrugged. Okay, I _really_ wanted to hit him right now, preferably with my left fist. Plotting how I could kick his ass, we split up into our separate rooms.

* * *

~Ed's P.O.V~

"Hey, brother?" Alphonse asked as I laid back on my bed.

"Yeah, Al?"

"Do you have something against Emilee?"

I sat up and looked at him in confusion. "What makes you ask that?"

"Well, you haven't really been acknowledging her presence. All you've done is shrug," Alphonse pointed out.

Sighing, I laid back down.

"Brother, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Al," I said, rolling over so my back was to my younger brother.

The eyes of Alphonse's helmet got this evil gleam. "I know…you like her and don't want anyone to know about it."

"Oh, come off it Al!" I snapped, going rigid on the bed.

"Brother, just come out of the closet for once." (a/n: Gotta love Malindachan!)

"Come out of the…? Al, I swear I'm not hiding anything!" I protested, sitting up again.

"Oh, really…?"

There was a long silence where I glared at Alphonse, while he waited expectantly.

"Fine! If you want the truth, she's the hottest girl I've seen in a while! But that doesn't mean anything!" I shrieked as Alphonse started giggling.

Just then there was a loud bang on the wall from the other side. "Shut the hell up!" Emilee screamed at us through the wall.

It all scared me so bad, I fell right off the bed! "Do-do you think she heard…?" I asked shakily.

"Well…I guess we'll find out sooner or later," Alphonse replied, sounding as nervous as I felt.

I continued to stare at the wall, peeking over the side of the bed, praying – if there was a god – that she hadn't heard.

* * *

~Em's P.O.V~

_What the hell are they talking about? And why do I have to be able to hear through the damn wall?_ I thought angrily. First, Edward pretty much ignores me, now I have to listen to their brotherly quarrels, and tomorrow I had to go back to that womanizer's office – today had turned out pretty crummy. "Break the taboo and this is what you're stuck with," I muttered and sighed. Rolling over, I thought about my brother and that's how I fell asleep.

* * *

"Luke! Luke!" I called out into the darkness as I ran. He was there, he appeared in front of me, then disappeared and reappeared farther away. "Luke!" I screamed again, pushing myself to run faster.

Then Luke was gone. I stopped and looked around frantically.

"Honey?" I heard a sweet voice ask. I turned around to see my mom and dad's smiling faces.

"Mom…? Dad…?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes.

They opened their arms to me and I started to run into them, but before I reached them, they disappeared. "Mom! Dad!" I called fearfully.

The next image I saw was of my parents shot dead, then of that _thing_ in the transmutation circle.

"No…!" My voice a strangled whisper, I took a shaky step back, then I ran. Luke appeared in front of me again. "Luke!" I exclaimed, running into his arms and hugging him tightly. But even as I hugged him, I felt him disappear.

I heard the screech of the breaks, the sickening crash of metal. In horror I turned and saw the ruined car, Luke dead and crushed under it.

"No…"

Why had I survived? Why only me?

* * *

I bolted upright in bed, screaming my brother's name, tears pouring down my face. In the next half minute, Edward and Alphonse came barreling through the door.

"What is it? What happened?" they yelled in unison.

I sat shaking on the bed, my knees pulled up to my chest, hugging them as tightly as I could. After a few gulps of air, I managed to calm down enough to talk. "It was just a bad dream; go back to your own room."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Alphonse asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine."

"But—"

"Come on, Al. If she wants to be alone, she wants to be alone," Edward interjected, turning to leave. But I could have sworn he looked back at me with sympathy in his eyes. I didn't understand what was going on inside his head.

* * *

I finally went back to sleep about an hour after the brothers left, and woke up about 10:00 the next morning. Stretching, I changed into my usual outfit – black dress, gloves, and boots – and decided to go up to the roof. There I found the brothers sparing. Both were actually pretty good. Watching Edward it was hard not to notice all he did was clap to transmute. Then I saw Alphonse do the same thing. Pondering this, I went downstairs to get some breakfast.

* * *

1:05. I stood outside Roy Mustang's office with Edward and Alphonse. Alphonse knocked; no answer. He knocked again; still no answer.

"Maybe he isn't here," Edward said nonchalantly, but he sounded hopeful to me.

"Colonel?" Alphonse asked, opening the door.

The desk was stacked even higher with paperwork than yesterday, and the faint sound of snoring could be heard from behind it.

"Asleep on the job?" Edward said with an evil smirk.

"I wonder where Lt. Hawkeye is," Alphonse added.

Curiously, I walked around his desk and found Roy asleep with pen in hand and head on documents. Looking up at the piles of documents, I found I could just barely see the top of Alphonse's helmet.

_So he wasn't lying yesterday,_ I thought.

Just then the phone on the desk started ringing.

"Huh?" Roy's head lifted groggily off the desk and he reach for the phone. "Hello…? …Hughes, one more word about your daughter and— HOLY SHIT!" Roy hollered as he noticed me standing right next to his chair. The shock sent him sprawling back off the chair, the phone clattering to the desk.

I smirked in satisfaction at the look on his face.

"Hello? Roy? What happened?" a loud voice asked from the receiver.

"Sorry, Hughes; had a bit of a rude awakening," Roy said into the receiver after picking himself up. "I have to go now; shadow girl's back."

_So, my name's 'shadow girl' now?_ I thought with my arms crossed, as Roy hung up and turned to me. But then again, I never did tell him my name yesterday.

"Now, was there a reason for that?" Roy asked sourly.

"Not really," I said still smirking. _But it was fun._

Edward appeared around the piles of papers, grinning from ear to ear. "Nice use of language, Colonel."

"Blame it on your friend here," Roy said, motioning to me. "Anyway, it's all been set up; you're talking the exam at 3:00," he told me. "And what's your name? I forgot to ask last time."

"Emilee Hitachiin," I said and Roy scribbled it down on a piece of paper.

"Fullmetal, run this over to the Führer's office, would you?"

Scowling, Edward snatched the paper from Roy and walked out.

* * *

~Ed's P.O.V~

As I was walking to the Führer's office, 2nd Lieutenants Ross and Brosh turned the corner down the hall in my direction.

"Oh, hello, Edward," 2nd Lt. Ross smiled.

"Hey, 2nd Lt. Ross, 2nd Lt. Brosh. What are you doing her?" I asked.

"Major Armstrong told us to report to Colonel Mustangs office," Lt. Bross answered.

Looking at the two of them, the horror dawned on me. Once again I'd be stuck with these two as my bodyguards. "Eh, Well, I wonder what that's about," I said, forcing myself to smile. "Um, I gotta take this to the Führer's office. Hope it goes well!" Still forcing a smile, I started down the hall again.

"Yes, see you later, Ed!" Lt. Ross called.

_Sooner than you think,_ I thought, cursing under my breath.

* * *

~Em's P.O.V~

I stood watching as Roy furiously scribbled his name on the papers, muttering something like "Hawkeye's gonna kill me if I don't get these done!" The door opened then, and I turned to see two more military people enter.

"Oh," Roy said, quickly glancing up. "Alphonse, you've met these two before but Emilee, this is 2nd Lt. Maria Ross and Denny Brosh. They will be your and the Elrics' bodyguards." Roy continued to furiously sign papers while talking.

"Hello, again, Lieutenants," Alphonse said politely.

"Hello, Alphonse. How have you and your brother been?" Maria asked.

"Pretty well," Alphonse answered.

"Hi! And you'd be?" Brosh asked me.

"Emilee Hitachiin," I said. "I'm here to take the State Alchemists' Exam."

"Really, so what's your specialty?" Brosh asked.

"Shadow manipulation," I said smugly.

"Oh, wow, really? Can we see a demonstration?" Brosh asked excitedly.

"Come to the exam, you can see me in action," I smirked. It wasn't the reaction I was used to, but at least he hadn't outright denied it like Roy.

Accepting my answer, Brosh turned to Alphonse. "So, Al, where's your runt of a brother?" he asked.

"WHO THE HELL JUST CALLED ME SMALL?" Edward screamed from down the hall, bursting through the door at full speed.

Everyone in the room looked scared to death. That was when I learned never to say the words "little," "short," or "small" – or anything else related to his height – around Edward.

[a/n: Okay, manga fans, I know I screwed up and 2nd Lt. Ross shouldn't really even be here. Before Edward was muttering about the Philosopher's Stone and the gate which happened in around volume 13 or so, and Maria Ross left for Xing in volume…9? Well anyway, just please go with it! ^_^']

* * *

I stood in the room, the Führer himself standing before me, Roy Mustang, Maria Ross, and Denny Brosh watching from the balcony. Edward and Alphonse were waiting outside.

"Alright, let's see what you've got," the Führer smiled.

I smirked, clapped, and touched the shadows. A solid black shape – a shadow snake – formed underneath my hand. "Go get him, sweetie," I whispered sweetly.

The snake lashed out at the Führer.

"Führer!"

"Führer!" voices rang out.

At the last second, the snake recoiled. I ran up behind it, clapping, and jumped over it into the air; the snake morphed into a new form, trapping the Führer in a cage of shadows. The second that I landed, 3 or 4 guns were pointed at my head. The Führer whistled, admiring my handiwork.

"You know, you really should think about changing this. If I'd really wanted to kill him, he'd already be dead," I stated.

President Bradley laughed. "Just what Fullmetal said after he pointed a spear at my throat. Certainly are like him, aren't you?"

"Don't compare me to him," I muttered, clapping and the shadow cage disappeared. Looking to the balcony, I saw Roy and Ross leaning forward mouths slightly ajar. Brosh was leaning so far over the edge he looked to be in danger of falling over.

"Well, you pass!" Bradley proclaimed, much to the dismay of the guards.

The smirk never left my face.

* * *

~Ed's POV~

I stood there peering through the crack of the open door. _Please tell me I'm seeing things!_ I thought. Unless Emilee had transmutation circles on her palms, she hadn't used any in that display. As Emilee came out of the room, took her wrists and flipped her hands palm up.

"No transmutation circles," I muttered to myself as Emilee protested and tried to pull back. Reflexively, I tighten my grip and was surprised by the hardness of her left wrist.

* * *

~Em's POV~

I stared timidly back at Edward's shocked face. It was obvious he had felt the hardness of my auto-mail. Almost hesitantly, Edward pulled the glove off my hand, revealing the dull metal. A wry smirk appeared as he let go and lowered his head.

"So you transmute without circles, and you have an auto-mail arm…" he said quietly. "Tell me, have you tried human transmutation…?"

"No, of course not," I denied. "What do you do? Go around to random girls and flip their palms up? Is that what you do for fun?"

A rather harsh look from Edward shut me up. "If you haven't, then explain to me how you can transmute without circles," Edward demanded. "That's the only way you could."

His know-it-all attitude started to piss me off. "What do you know about human transmutation?" I yelled at him.

"A lot, actually," Edward said calmly, pulling off his red alchemists' cloak and the black jacket underneath it. My eyes widened, seeing his right arm was made of auto-mail. Then he clapped and transmuted a blade from his arm. "This is how I know, Emilee, because I was stupid enough to try it too. Now why don't you tell us exactly what you want to research, and who you tried to bring back," he added, returning his arm to normal.

Biting down on my lip, I clenched my fists and stared hard at the floor.

* * *

I sat on my bed in the hotel room, hugging my knees close to my chest. Somehow I managed to keep the tears at bay. There was a soft rap on the door.

"Come in," I said quietly.

Alphonse came timidly into the room. "I know brother can be harsh but he means well," he said gently.

"Harsh isn't the word," I muttered. Edward had been brutal.

[Flashback]

"Well?" Edward prompted when I didn't respond.

"Human transmutation…" I whispered, "and the Philosopher's Stone…"

Edward didn't bat an eyelid, but his features hardened a bit. "And…?"

The lump in my throat rose as images flooded my mind.

"Ed, maybe we should head back to the hotel," Alphonse said uneasily.

"Talk and walk," Edward muttered and turned around.

We walked in silence until Alphonse slowed his pace to match mine. "Emilee, you can tell us. You don't have to be afraid," he said gently.

Uncertainly, I opened my mouth, and the whole story that had been locked in for so long came tumbling out. "When I was 12, my parents were killed at work, leaving my brother – 17 at the time – to raise me alone. I couldn't bare the thought of not being able to see them again…so I tried to bring them back. But I failed, and lost my arm…! And about a year later, Luke died in a car crash while he was driving us to Central! I was left alone! They sent me back to an orphanage, but I had to get out of there! I didn't want to be reminded! So I lied to get out and come here!" My breath was ragged and tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. The three of us had stopped; the street was conveniently deserted.

"I'm sorry," Alphonse said, trying to comfort me.

"I feel for you, I really do."

I looked up at Edward and saw an expression on his face that I didn't immediately recognize. It was like a mix of grief and spite and maybe understanding.

"I know what it's like," Edward continued. "Al and I lost our mother; she was all we had; our father walked out years ago. We didn't know how we would live without her, so I decided we weren't going to; we were going to bring her back." He paused and gripped his right shoulder. "Of course, it failed. I lost an arm and a leg, and Al lost his whole body."

_What?_ I turned to Alphonse as he removed his helmet. Nothing was there but a rune drawn in what looked like blood.

"That blood seal is the only thing tying Al's soul to this world," Edward explained. "You're lucky you only lost an arm, but I guess that means you didn't get as close to the truth." The last part he said more to himself.

"But the Philosopher's Stone! It can do anything, right?" I asked desperately.

When neither answered, I started to panic. My only chance of hope was slipping between my fingers. "If I tried again with the Stone—!"

"Emilee!" Edward snapped harshly, cutting me off mid-sentence as he pushed me against a wall. "Snap out of it! The dead can never come back to life! What Al and I transmuted wasn't even remotely related to our mother!"

"Brother…" Alphonse worriedly tried to step in, but Edward wasn't listening.

"But the Stone…" I said meekly.

"Stop living in the past!" Edward yelled again. "All is one, one is all! Everything follows the flow of the world and that flow cannot be broken or reversed! The dead are dead! Accept that and move on!"

I felt as though every part of me had been shattered, as I tried to hold each piece in their delicate balance.

"A sin is a sin; you have to live with a consequences," Edward said softly, and turned away. "You coming?" he asked as he started walking again.

Still trying to hold the pieces of me in place, I silently followed the brothers at a distance.

[end flashback]

"Well, um, goodnight," Alphonse said and quietly left the room.

* * *

~Ed's POV~

My eyes slowly opened as I became aware of what woke me. Moaning, coming from the other side of the wall. _Emilee…?_ I wondered.

Sitting up, I looked around. Alphonse must have gone somewhere else to keep busy. Quietly slipping out of the room, I looked down the hall towards Emilee's room. Suddenly, there was a bloodcurdling scream. One second, all the muscles in my body froze; the next had bolted to Emilee's door.

"Hey, Em, are you alright?" I asked worriedly, pushing through the door.

She was sitting there on the bed, hugging her knees tightly, whimpering.

"Em…?" I asked softly. Crossing the room, I sat on the bed next to her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I keep dreaming about him!" Emilee choked out through the tears. "I want to see him again…but now I know he can never come back!"

"I know," I said softly, wiping tears from her cheek with my left hand as I wrapped my arms comfortingly around her.

"The hope in the Stone was all I had left!" Emilee sobbed as I rocked her gently.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so hard on you," I apologized. I really hadn't meant to break her like this; I was just trying to make her face reality. "But it's better to know the truth, right?"

Emilee didn't respond.

* * *

~Em's POV~

A few moments passed in silence. Edward's gentle rocking, slowly started to calm me down. "How…" I croaked, then cleared my throat and tried again. "How do you and Al move forward…?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"Well, we decided to try and fix our mistakes and get our original bodies back. That's why we keep moving forward; that's why we're looking for the Stone," Edward responded honestly.

I looked down at my automail arm for a bit, wondering what it would be like to have my real arm back. "Can I join you?" I asked softly.

"You don't have to ask," Edward smiled. "But I have one condition."

I looked up at him and found his lips connecting with mine in a sweet but loving kiss. Surprising at first, but pleasant. After a few seconds, Edward pulled back and waited for my answer.

"Condition accepted," I said, resting my head against his chest.

"I'm glad," he smiled. "You have us now," he breathed in my ear, lying back on the bed with me.

For the first time since Luke died, the night ended to find me safe in strong arms. I knew there would still be hard times, but I would get through them and keep moving forward…with my new family.

* * *

And it is finito! ^^ I do have some plans for a sequel to this entitled "Safe in Strong Arms" so review/PM if you're interested. Now, I need to go take some pain killer cuz my head is killin' me.

PS: For those of you nitwits who can't figure it out, Em's brother's name is Luke!


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